As deregulation of the telephone industry continues, telephone service subscribers are faced with myriad options for local and long distance phone service. For example, new long distance services are being offered which bypass the "local loop," i.e. the traditional tip and ring telephone line provided by the subscriber's local telephone company. Such an alternate service provider can be, for example, the local cable television (CATV) company, which supplies another communication path to the household. This alternate path, generally either fiber optic or coaxial cable, possesses sufficient bandwidth to carry both TV signals and voice and data communications. However, to utilize the alternate cable path, a user must have two instruments, one for "traditional" or local telephone service, and one for the alternate long distance service. It would therefore be greatly advantageous for a user to have a device which would automatically select the proper service without the need for multiple telephone instruments. The present invention provides just such a device.